Those who know me well, know that I am pretty enthralled with makeup, beauty, skincare, etc.

It sounds like a shallow hobby, but to me, it’s my artistic outlet, and something that I am truly, head-over-heels about.

Because of my love for all things beauty, I often times have friends ask me for a recommendation for a new lip liner, setting powder, drugstore mascara, etc. Particularly in the past year, I’ve had friends notice that I’ve found a go-to beauty regime/makeup routine, and thus have been asking me what they should invest in themselves.

Because of all this, I wanted to dedicate a post to my most trusted, go-to makeup items that I feel confident recommending to my best friend, and/or to a complete stranger. It’s a healthy mix of high-end and drugstore, so hopefully there’s inspiration here for everyone!

Too Faced ‘Born This Way’ Foundation: Great coverage, but incredibly light in texture; great color selection; literally looks like your skin but better; works well on its own, but I always like to use a bit of setting powder after.

Maybelline ‘Age Rewind Treatment Concealer’: a cult classic, with warm undertones that cancel out dark circles; a spongey applicator that makes application quick, simple, and comfortable; on top of everything, the formula is super blendable.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in ‘Ethereal Light’: my absolutely favorite product in my entire collection; it provides a glowy luminosity to the skin, while also providing the power of a setting powder; my favorite finishing touch for photo-ready skin.

Smashbox Highlight/Contour Kit: this is an amazing product for traveling; it comes with a yellow-based highlighter, a warm-toned bronzer, and a cooler-toned contour powder; it has everything you need to finish your base after foundation, and comes in a super travel-friendly package (with a great setting brush!).

MAC Cinderella Palette: Although this was limited edition, some of the shadows in here are not (“Omega”); MAC shadows are, and will always be my favorite shadows out there; their color selection is unbeatable and the finishes offered are so universally wearable; I find myself using this palette for everyday looks and more dramatic night-out looks.

Maybelline ‘The Falsies’ Mascara: This isn’t the first time on my blog I’ve mentioned this product; it is volumizing and lengthening; it holds a curl and provides the most dramatic lashes (with a few coats); I always recommend this to friends, as long as you don’t mind the “wet” formula.

L’Oreal Infallible ‘The Super Slim Liquid Eyeliner’: I have a hard time with liquid eyeliners, but so far this one has all other options I’ve tried beat; it is a long, felt tip applicator, which gives me more control; The nib is quite fine for the days when I was more subtle definition, but also makes creating that cat eye flick less intimidating & actually quite doable.

Real Techniques Makeup Brushes: These are incredible value for money. I have recommended these brushes to countless friends and family members. They are soft and they make blending easy and quick. They are comparable to many of the high end brushes I’ve tried, but are a fraction of the price.

Rimmel Exaggerate Lipliners: I am someone who loves lipstick and lipgloss, but I find that almost instantly the color I swiped on is gone and bleeding out past my lip lines. So in the past year I’ve counted almost entirely on these lipliners for go-to lip color options. They are long-wearing and come in a great range of wearable colors. They are a tad bit drying, but absolutely worth it for the color pay off and longevity, in my opinion. My two favorite colors are “East End Snob” and “Enchantment”.

I hope you liked this post and I hope it brought some inspiration on beauty products to look into next. These really are my go-to’s!